The invention relates generally to fuel dispensers, and more particularly, to fuel dispensers and fuel dispensing systems having a network server providing generated documents reflecting stored data to a user. Recently, fuel dispensers have evolved into complicated systems that provide and store large amounts of data pertaining to fuel delivery and customer interaction. For example, dispensers may include a customer interface having a point-of-sale (POS) system for ordering foods from associated restaurants and services such as car washes; card readers for accepting payment for fuel, goods and services at the dispenser; and displays for ordering and commercial advertising. Additionally, modern fuel dispensers can facilitate a service station owners' maintenance of the dispenser by accumulating inventory information and monitoring overall dispenser status.
As the complexity of these devices increases, the volume and types of data that a fuel dispenser can generate increases, as well as the potential for faults and dispenser failure. As this information increases in volume and type, the number of ways to present the data increases as well. Accordingly, dispenser suppliers, oil companies, and owners need an economical and efficient way to access this data on both new and pre-existing dispensers. Each of these entities often wants access to different information viewable in different formats. Until applicants' invention, the only way that most of this data could be accessed was to be at the same site as the dispenser, significantly limiting the personnel available to analyze the dispenser's inventory and maintenance data. Presentation of the data was usually inflexible. Furthermore, maintenance problems generally required several trips to the dispenser: one to diagnose the problem, and others to fix the problem. Thus, there is a need for a dispenser configured to efficiently gather inventory status and maintenance information and provide this data to different entities in different locations in a variety of user configurable formats.